Fairfield school launches ‘Men Of Destiny’ mentoring club for boys

The boys of today may grow to become the gentlemen of the future, and now they have help with that journey from a new mentoring program at a Fairfield elementary.

The new “Men Of Destiny” program at Central Elementary is the invention of first-year Assistant Principal Kareem Sanders, a former prep football coach from Georgia.

Sanders brought the idea north with him when his family moved to Butler County, and he said it appeals to young boys.

The program, which now includes 10 boys at the school in grades 3 to 5, involves weekly meetings with adult male mentors, learning activities, grill outs, and positive and uplifting movies all designed to show the youngsters how to behave as proper young gentlemen.

The boys also learn to dress up, tie a tie for occasional events like their recent visit and presentation at a Fairfield Board of Education meeting.

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Future activities will include community service work and field trips to local sporting events, roller skating, bowling and Kings Island, said Sanders.

He hopes to have 50 boys join “Men Of Destiny” in the coming years.

“We are showing these boys that to grow your community, you have to be a productive citizen,” said Sanders. “We have to nurture these young men.”

“Our young boys go through so much in these days and time with what they are exposed to and we want to make sure we have something authentic to offer them,” he said.

Fourth-grader Joshua Diercks enjoys the time the club allows him to spend with positive male role models, plus, he said, it’s just fun.

“I like that you get to do things after school and it helps you to know what you need to do when you grow up and how you need to act,” said Diercks. “Stuff that will help us do better when we grow up.”

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Diercks’ mother Christy loves the program.

“This year, it has made a huge difference for him. The big thing is he gets to follow some male role models through the school and a chance to work with other kids,” she said.

Gina Gentry-Fletcher, spokeswoman for Fairfield Schools, said other districts are watching the Central program to see how they might duplicate it for their schools.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our young men to have role models and be motivated to want to do better and relationship better, which is a key component to a lot of students’ success,” said Gentry-Fletcher.

Sanders said he is seeking help from local businesses to help sponsor some of the club’s activities. He can be reached at sanders_k@fairfieldcityschools.com

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